


not just friendship (romance too)

by earthquakedream



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Coming Out, Get Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-04
Updated: 2012-04-04
Packaged: 2017-11-03 02:03:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/375871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/earthquakedream/pseuds/earthquakedream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve's gone and gotten himself a boyfriend. Danny's not sure what worse: the fact that he's stupidly jealous or that he actually likes the guy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	not just friendship (romance too)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to iam_space for the quick and thorough beta and to the mods at h50_exchange for being so wonderful. I had a great time writing this! Fic title comes from _I'll Try Anything Once_ by The Strokes and I apologize for the ridiculous amount of Die Hard references.

All the times Steve had told Danny to knock, he'd never listened. He didn't really see a point - it wasn't like Steve had much of a life outside Five-0 and his team. Sure, he had Catherine, but he always let them know when she'd be up and Danny tended to avoid his place on those weekends. But she was in Bangkok, Danny had a Grace-less weekend, and there was a Die Hard marathon on that would have Steve up in arms over the inaccuracy of McClane's stunts.

Except when he came into the house with a six-pack in hand, he almost dropped it. Steve was home, but he was--

"What the hell are you wearing?" Danny asked, beer thunking down on the kitchen table, a little louder than he'd intended. Steve didn't jump, just glanced up from the pot he was stirring.

"It's a tie, Danno. I know you're probably confused since you've been neglecting your own lately."

"Someone told me it might be a liability in the field."

"Oh, at work, it's totally a liability. But I'm not at work."

"No, you're not," Danny said slowly. "But you're dressed up, you're cooking, and... well, I've noticed you got the good plates out, instead of the paper ones you always make me eat off of. You would have told me if Catherine was in town--"

"Cath and I are over."

"...what?" Danny grabbed a beer and went to open it. Steve lifted the spoon, which was covered in rice, and shook his head.

"Don't even think about it. You're leaving."

"Who's coming over, Steve?"

Steve sighed. He kept stirring.

Had to be risotto, then. Danny had only tried making it for Rachel once and the constant stirring nearly gave him carpal tunnel.

"I have a date," Steve finally said. "And they'll be here soon."

They. Not _she_.

Danny blinked.

"What's... what's his name?"

Steve stared firmly at the pot. He cleared his throat after a few minutes.

"His name is Andy. You don't know him and you're not meeting him tonight." He flicked his eyes back towards Danny. "Bring the beer back tomorrow. We'll talk then, okay?"

Danny nodded once and grabbed the handle of the six-pack so hard it hurt. "Yeah. Tomorrow." He wanted to demand that Steve tell him more, because this was big, this was fucking _huge_ , Steve was having a guy over for dinner, so it must be more than just a first date thing, because Steve was the kind of guy to do dinner out and a walk on the beach for a first date, not _hey, let me invite you into my home_ , plus risotto, and candles, and a _tie_...

Steve was looking to get laid. He was dressing up and pulling out all the stops, all for some guy Danny had never even heard of. It had to be serious.

He turned and walked out without another word, but Steve didn't try to call him back. Danny was barely out of the driveway when someone else pulled in on a bike. The man was wearing dress pants over his motorcycle boots and a full-face helmet.

Danny memorized the license plate and thought about running it, but he knew if Steve did the same to him he'd be pissed. Instead he drove to the latest shitty motel he was unfortunate enough to be occupying while searching for an affordable apartment and cracked open a beer. He'd order a pizza or something, eat it while watching shit blow up, and pretend that he didn't irrationally hate this _Andy_ guy.

He knew Steve had reasons for hiding his sexuality. He was a military man at heart, had been taught to hide that kind of thing or risk being discharged. But it still hurt that Steve hadn't trusted him, or even Chin Ho or Kono. Danny respected his choice, though, and he'd keep it to himself.

John McClane was leaving his shoes behind, the part Steve hated the most. The last three times the movie had been on TV, Steve had acted like _this_ would be the time that McClane remembered his shoes. He cursed at the TV every time.

Danny found himself sighing, almost longingly, and rolled his eyes at himself. Just because McGarrett was off on a date didn't mean Danny had to sit around and pine. He ordered his pizza - extra sauce, extra cheese, because they never put enough on for his taste - and changed into something more comfortable.

Without Steve to insult Danny's favorite action hero, though, his night wasn't that much fun.

 

 

 

It was a pretty weak justification, but Steve had only specified "tomorrow". He said nothing about what time Danny should come over, so around 11 in the morning, when Danny was bored and restless, he drove over to Steve's and ignored the motorcycle still in the driveway as he knocked briefly and headed inside.

Steve was in jeans and a t-shirt, sitting on his couch, and the shower was running upstairs. Danny ignored the glare Steve shot him.

"What? It's _tomorrow_ , isn't it?"

"Yeah, but I thought you'd be polite enough to wait until he was gone to come over," Steve hissed.

The shower shut off. Danny shrugged. "I didn't know he'd still be here when I drove over. Then I figured I'd come all this way, might as well not make the trip twice."

"You could have called!" Steve winced at the volume in his voice and lowered it until he was nearly whispering. "I told you I'd talk to you, Danny, but I don't want to do it like this."

"I'll leave, okay, I'm sorry." Danny held out his hands and turned towards the door.

"Hey, Steve? Is someone here?"

Footsteps started down the stairs and Danny turned back around. It'd be rude and a little suspicious if he darted out now.

Steve stood up and sighed. "Don't be an asshole," he murmured. Danny rolled his eyes.

"I'm not completely socially inept, McGarrett, give me a little credit."

The man who came downstairs was not anything like Danny imagined. He figured Steve would go for another military type, someone big and broad and maybe a little uptight. This guy, though - he was definitely a local, about the same height as Steve, had some slender muscle on him, messy hair, and he was absolutely covered in tattoos, all of them brightly colored and obnoxious. He was in the pants Danny had seen him in last night, but he was bare-chested.

He looked like a goddamn punk.

His smile was bright and sunny as he held out his hand. Danny took it reluctantly, glad he'd gone with a button up with his jeans. At least he looked classy next to this guy.

"Sorry about the lack of shirt. Steve dumped half a glass of wine on it last night and I wanted to ask before borrowing one of his." He shook Danny's hand firmly, but there was no tough guy posturing behind it. Danny made sure to make his grip match. "I'm Andy Chandler."

"Danny Williams." Danny dropped his hand. Andy rubbed the back of his neck, his grin going even bigger.

"Steve's partner! Hey, man, it's _great_ to meet you. Steve's told me a lot about you."

Danny couldn't help but smirk. "It's because he doesn't have any other friends."

Andy laughed in this surprised way, bright and genuinely amused, that had Danny smiling helplessly. Steve was actually _pouting_ behind him.

"Andy, why don't you go put on a shirt? There's t-shirts in the second drawer of my dresser, okay?"

Danny watched Steve while Andy padded back up the stairs. Steve scowled at him.

"Happy? You met him. We'll talk _later_ , I swear, but right now--"

Andy came back downstairs before Steve could finish. He was wearing one of Steve's "NAVY" t-shirts. It hung loose on him, showing the twisted lines of the tattoo that ran across his collarbone.

Danny decided to show some sympathy for Steve. He'd already caused enough trouble. "I should head home. I didn't realize Steve would have company."

"Hey, it's cool, you didn't interrupt anything."

The guy was stupidly cheerful for having his morning after ruined by his boyfriend's partner.

That sounded wrong, even in Danny's own head.

Steve let out a sigh. "I was gonna whip up my own version of loco moco, if you wanted to stick around for a bit?"

Andy looked so delighted - he was like a puppy or something, how old was this guy, anyway - that Danny couldn't help but grin too.

Steve, however, looked like he was facing eight hours of paperwork. For some reason, that made Danny's mood even better.

 

 

 

Danny learned a lot about Andy, mostly because the guy really liked to talk. He was 32, he was a tattoo artist, he surfed and liked to take landscape photos in his spare time. He called it _scenery porn_. He and Steve had met when Steve came in to get his arms touched up. Andy had asked about where he'd gotten them, what inspired them, and by the time they were done, Steve had asked for his number.

That surprised Danny the most out of all this. He didn't say anything though, just let his side-eyed glance towards Steve let the man know what he was thinking.

As much as Danny didn't want to like Steve's boyfriend, he couldn't help it. Andy was incessantly cheerful, a little cheeky, and he made Steve smile more than new explosives. Whatever awkwardness Steve had been feeling earlier went away pretty quickly when Andy turned that sunshiny smile on him.

After that first meeting, Danny was invited over a couple more times. He and Steve never mentioned it to Kono and Chin, but it wasn't like they were ever going to suspect that Steve had a secret boyfriend.

Danny went over one night for a football game. It was the fourth time he'd hung out with Steve and Andy, just the three of them, including that first meeting. Grace was at a birthday sleepover thing, which meant his weekend was postponed, and he'd moped enough at work that he was pretty sure it was just a pity invite.

The whole thing made him feel like a third wheel, even though Steve and Andy never acted distinctly couple-y. Danny couldn't really picture Steve being sweet and affectionate with anyone. Even the few times he'd seen Steve and Catherine together, they never smooched in public. He didn't know what it was that made him uncomfortable. Maybe it was the fact that he and Steve would normally be doing this on their own before Andy came along. Maybe it was because he knew once he left, Steve and Andy would head upstairs and have sex.

At this point, Danny barely knew who was even playing in the game. He was much more focused on the way Steve was almost unconsciously tracing the rose tattooed on Andy's forearm, gaze trained on the beer bottle resting against Andy's full lower lip while Andy stared at the TV.

It was an understatement to say that Danny was incredibly relieved when Grace called him to come get her from the sleepover, because she missed him and the house was too dark and she wanted pancakes in the morning, _Danno pancakes_ , not leftover ice cream cake.

Danny was positive it was Rachel's influence that made Grace not want leftover ice cream cake for breakfast. He wasn't going to complain, though.

He made his excuses and left, pretending not to hear Steve tell him to _bring her over for some real pancakes in the morning, Danny!_.

As much as he liked Andy, he didn't want to explain the situation to Grace, not so soon after his break up with Gabby. That whole thing hadn't gone bad, exactly, but Andy was Steve's boyfriend and even though it seemed like he'd be sticking around, Danny wasn't ready.

Grace would love the guy, that was for certain. Danny didn't think he could take both his daughter and his partner being enamored with Andy.

 

 

 

Danny knew something was up as soon as he saw Steve come into headquarters. His shoulders were up, his whole body tense, his face masked to hide something.

Steve didn't say anything, which meant no one was in trouble, there was nothing going down, he was just angry in a way that Danny hadn't seen for a few months. Not since before Steve started getting laid regularly.

Kono and Chin were completely baffled, but Danny saw what was going on almost right away. He didn't say anything, though. This time, it wasn't his business until Steve decided to talk to him about it.

Surprisingly, it didn't take that long for it to come up. They were eating lunch in Steve's office while Chin and Kono were interviewing a couple witnesses when Steve suggested that Danny should bring Grace over on Saturday.

Danny raised his eyebrows, carefully setting down his roast beef sandwich. "See, I suggested that the other day and you said you were gonna be hanging out at the North Shore with Andy."

Steve avoided his eyes by taking a long sip of his coconut water. It came in a juice box. Danny made a face at it and Steve sighed.

"Andy broke up with me. So now my weekend is free and I think you should bring Grace over."

Danny spread his arms out. "Was that so hard? I could see it on your face as soon as you walked in this morning. Now tell me why Andy was stupid enough to break up with you. You're obviously a catch, McGarrett, at least to people who don't spend nearly every day with you. They just see the pretty face and the muscles and assume you're the man of their dreams."

He saw Steve looking at him, amused, and figured that even though he'd thoroughly embarrassed himself, it was worth it to make Steve smile even for a second.

Steve took a deep breath, the smile falling away. He looked guilty. "Andy told me I was a closet case, which is pathetic for a 35 year old man, and that I should put on my 'big boy pants' and come out to the people who wouldn't care who I fucked. I told him I wasn't ready... and he said we were over because he was done feeling like a dirty little secret."

Danny's mouth opened and closed for a few seconds before he could use his words. "Seriously? _Seriously_? And I thought this guy was nice, I thought he might be good for you. That's just bullshit - don't you interrupt me, Steven, let me say this. It's bullshit. No one should ever tell you when it's time for you to come out. It's your choice and only your choice. I waited until I was good and ready before I came out and even though I haven't really made a secret of it since, I don't really like to say _hey, I occasionally like dick_ in so many words, I just let it come up naturally, y'know? But if you're not ready to say it however you wanna say it, then that's fine, that's perfectly fucking fine, and Andy is an asshole for implying any different."

After taking a couple calming breaths, Danny lowered his hands and looked at Steve, who was staring at him. Danny rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry."

"No, no, that was very inspiring." Steve grinned at him, no longer looking so downtrodden. Danny smiled back. "So, you occasionally like dick?"

Danny smirked. "Occasionally. Kono knows, we got talking about our preference in men one day, when we were very drunk, because I don't usually like to chit-chat about that stuff like I'm in high school. Chin knows because I might have had a thing with one of his many cousins back when I first moved here. We don't really talk about it because it's not a big deal. They know it doesn't change who I am." The look he gave Steve was probably a little over the top, but Steve nodded like he understood what Danny was saying.

 

 

 

That particular subject was dropped for another couple weeks. They went on like they always had: arguing at the drop of a hat, Steve blowing up shit for fun, Danny nearly having coronary episodes once a week - Mondays were always the worst - and taking down bad guys like it was their job.

Well, it was their job.

There were these looks Steve kept giving him though, considering looks, like there was something he wanted to figure out about Danny. It was weird, but Danny could ignore them. He never brought them up because he wasn't sure if either of them were ready for Steve's explanation.

When Steve came out to Chin and Kono, they were just as surprised as Danny.

The four of them were at the Hilton, Max and Kamekona long gone.

Kono nodded at one of the guys playing guitar on stage and raised her eyebrows. "He's cute."

Danny made a face and gestured subtly towards a beefed up man in a business suit sitting a few tables over. "Honestly, I'm way more likely to go home with a guy like that."

"What is it with you and ties, huh?" Kono grinned and looked at Chin, rolled her eyes because they all knew he was busy texting his wife. She looked at Steve instead. "What about you, Boss? If you were into guys, which one would you take home, guitar guy or suit guy?"

Steve looked shifty for a second, glanced at Danny, then looked over at "suit guy". "I am into guys, and I'd go with suit guy. Sorry, Kono. I feel like I'd break that other guy in half."

Danny laughed. Kono looked shocked for all of a second, then joined in. Chin took a little longer to stop staring before he clapped Steve on the arm and just grinned.

"I did not see that coming, but congrats, Bossman. You and Danny are great together."

Danny stopped laughing. Steve's eyes went wide.

"Yeah, Steve, you two make a great couple. We should have known." Chin got up and shook their hands. "Aloha, you two. Don't stay up too late, huh?"

He and Kono left together, leaving Danny and Steve sitting shocked.

Danny broke the silence first after downing the last of his beer. "Why is it that people always assume we're together, huh?"

Steve looked at him, licked his lips quickly, then took a long sip from his bottle. "Think there might be something behind all those assumptions?"

"I don't know, babe, are you hiding a secret crush on me?"

They stared at each other for a few moments. Steve cleared his throat. "I could ask you the same question. You're always pretty invested in my love life."

Danny blinked once, then stood up, grabbed the cash Kono and Chin left to pay their part of the tab, then held a hand out to Steve. "Pay up, McGarrett, I know you have your wallet."

"You're avoiding--"

"I am not, I will answer you, just not here, okay?"

Steve slapped a twenty into Danny's palm and Danny tried to clear his mind as he took care of their bill. He had no idea what he was doing, but he was pretty sure it was going to end very badly.

He drove Steve back to his place, both of them quiet the whole way, NPR playing on the radio because they hadn't been able to agree on a station earlier. Danny could only listen to Ira Glass's voice for so long before he turned it off, though.

Steve's house was dark and silent when they went in. Danny flipped on a couple lights while Steve made sure everything was locked and the alarm was set.

Danny kicked off his shoes and sat down on the couch. Steve joined him a few moments later.

"So, do you think Kono and Chin are right about us?"

"No," Danny said. "Because we're not actually together. However, hypothetically, if we were, it'd probably be a disaster, because we fight all the time and you put yourself in danger at every opportunity and I get shot at a lot and one of us could die at any time... but who knows. It might not be all that awful."

Steve laughed. "I don't know, Danny, you seem like you got it all figured out."

"I thought I had Rachel and I figured out both times, but I was wrong about that. I could be wrong about this too. We might have a happily ever after in store for us."

There was this hopefulness in Steve's eyes that Danny was pretty sure he'd never seen before. He smiled and reached out to cup Steve's cheek.

"Only way to find out is if we try, right?"

Steve nodded and pressed his face into Danny's touch. It was easy, then, to lean in and press his mouth to Steve's, let their lips touch, a little dry and too soft. Steve opened his mouth and the kiss turned wet, Danny's hesitance disappearing easily.

Calloused hands tugged at his shirt, getting it out of his pants, sliding over the heated, slightly sweaty skin right above his belt. Danny had to pull away, their mouths separating with a slick sound that made his dick jump.

"If we're doing anything over PG-13, McGarrett, it's not going to be on this couch. I've spent a few nights on this couch and it is not that comfortable."

Steve grinned and got to his feet. "I have a bed upstairs. Will that do it for you?"

"Your bed should work fine," Danny said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Steve tugged him up.

Steve's bed did work fine. His sheets were soft and cool against Danny's back as Steve pressed him down against the mattress, kissing him open-mouthed and hot, both of them naked and rutting together.

"Fuuuck, babe, hey, slow down." Danny grabbed at Steve's shoulders and tried to control his breathing. "We got all night, right?" He hooked his legs over Steve's calves and flipped them, grinning down at him. "Lay back and let me take care of you."

It had to be a struggle for Steve to let Danny take control, but he obeyed and lay still for about two seconds. As soon as Danny got his mouth on one of Steve's nipples, there were hands in his hair, grabbing lightly as Steve arched up. Sensitive, then. Danny grinned and bit down, then moved down a little more, nose dragging through the hair covering Steve's abdomen. He snuck a quick glance up. "Awkward but necessary question. You're clean?"

Steve nodded, biting down hard on his lower lip. "You want a copy of my last test or are you gonna touch me?"

Danny grinned at him and looked back down.

Steve's dick was hard, slightly curved, the head thick and wet and deep red. Danny wrapped his fingers around the length of it and stroked up slowly, squeezing out a few more drops of precome before he licked them away.

"Jesus, Danny," Steve groaned, head twisting against the pillows.

Danny grinned and licked again, then wrapped his lips around Steve's dick and took him in, screwing his mouth down slowly. Steve jerked up, fingers pulling at Danny's hair until tears sprang to his eyes, but Danny didn't stop. Couldn't. Steve's scent was musky and heady, filling Danny's senses. He cupped a hand around Steve's heavy balls and rubbed a finger right behind them.

Steve couldn't control himself, that much was obvious. He was fucking up into Danny's mouth until he gagged and pushed his arm against Steve's hips, holding him down. Steve didn't bother to apologize, just let out a needy whine that made Danny want to smile.

He wanted to fuck Steve, but not tonight. There was too much desperation to this and he wanted to take his time. He kept sucking Steve's dick, making it sloppy - wet and loud. Danny pulled off when Steve got close and put his mouth on his balls instead, wetting down each until Steve was letting out a constant litany of _oh my god, Danny, oh my god_.

Danny was so hard he hurt, needed relief, so he moved up and pushed his hips against Steve's, grabbed Steve's hand and licked his palm, sucked on his fingers, got his hand wet before he wrapped it around both their dicks.

Steve had big hands. It was a perfect fit, so fucking perfect, with his calluses dragging over Danny's incredibly sensitive skin, wrist twisting on the upstroke, until Danny was coming hard, splashing Steve's skin with spunk. Steve was staring, eyes flicking between Danny's face and his dick, seemingly mesmerized. Danny panted out Steve's name and managed to get a hand around Steve's dick, jerking him quick and hard until he came too, shooting over Danny's fingers and his own belly.

Danny rolled off him and took a few moments to catch his breath, balls still clenching and pulsing hard. It'd been a long damn time since he'd had anything to get him off besides his own hand and some shitty porn.

He rolled his head towards Steve and grinned. "Glad you let me take over?"

Steve smiled back, eyes bright even in the dark. "Yeah, Danny. Definitely."  



End file.
